For multiple discrepancies,
contradictions, and apparent inventions about the Life and Teachings of Jesus Christ, see
SB's annual Discourses for Christmas Day, or my web-book: Sathya Sai Baba: God or Guru?,
Chapter 5 ('Omniscience and Truth').

2. Judaism

On more than one occasion and over many
years, SB has demonstrated to his many Jewish devotees that he believes that Judaism and
Christianity come under the same religious umbrella and even SHARE the worship of Jesus
and the symbol of the Cross. He does not seem to have changed that opinion, in
spite of advice from John Hislop and others.

In SB's Sarva Dharma Emblem, there
are five symbols for five religions. Noticeably missing is the Star of David, which
symbolises the Jewish Faith. It was only because of the persistence of the American Jews
and in particular questions from John Hislop that Baba eventually gave permission for
Overseas centres and Organisations to add the Jewish Emblem to the Sarva Dharma
Symbol, if they wished. To this day, the Star of David does not appear on the Indian Sarva
Dharma (nor, interestingly, on that of some Western Nations).

During the following 1978 discussion between
Hislop and SB, a surprising fact came to light: Baba did not know that Jews and Christians
did not form a homogeneous group.

Hislop: "Swami, some questions arise in
the American Centers for which I do not have the answer. Many people of Jewish faith do
not understand why the symbol of the Jewish faith is not included in the Sai symbol of all
religions, since the Jewish people exceed in numbers some of the other religions
represented in the Sai symbol."

Sai: "It is not through any intention
that the Jewish Symbol is excluded [from the Sai emblem]. In India, there is not a general
awareness that the Jewish symbol is substantially different. Does the Cross fail to
symbolize the Jewish faith to a substantial degree?"

MG: "Yes, Swami. There is a substantial
difference." [=Michael Goldstein?]

Sai: "Then let the Jewish people make a
proposal to us and we will give consideration to it." (J.Hislop, My Baba and I,
1985:186-187; Oct 25, 1978)

SB finally gave them a group interview at
Puttaparthi in 1980 at which Hislop was present and quotes SB as explaining to them:
"The Sai symbol of five religions represents the five major religions found in India.
For the West, the Jewish Star may be added as a sixth representation on the Sai
symbol." (J. Hislop, 1985:191; Dec. 1, 1980)

(It is to be assumed that Hislop, the close
devotee and confidant of SB, reported this astonishing revelation about SB's knowledge in
the most favorable way. For the record, he also states about this meeting with Jewish
devotees: "I was unable to keep up with the rapid exchange of questions and answers
and could not remember afterwards, largely, I think, because of my unfamiliarity with the
subject matter." p. 191)

Among the confused ramblings of SB's
Christmas Day Discourse 1996 as captured on a video version but, for obvious reasons, NOT
subsequently reproduced in the official printed Discourse, is the following un-omniscient
statement:

"Here, at this moment, there are two
schools of thought. The first group of thought - Roman Catholics. There is another group
that fought with this group. This group is called Protestants. As they protested, they are
Protestants. So among Jews there are these two groups: Catholics and Protestants. The
difference of opinion has increased day by day. This led to Jesus, whose life was in
danger. Jews there in Jerusalem did not permit Jesus to go there."

Ten years ago, a colossal
historical/religious error of SB's was pointed out by Dale Beyerstein in his web-book, Sai
Baba's Miracles. An Overview (available on several critical websites). In spite of its
enormity, and because of the unconditional faith of devotees, most (including myself) took
no notice !

"A king from Greece [later identified
as Alexander the Great] came to India to study the conditions here ..." (p. 137)
"He made a study of the Bible, the Quran and Buddhist texts and found that all of
this laid emphasis on Truth, ... In the Quran he found that only by adherence to the Truth
can one be a real man." (p. 138)

BUT the enormous discrepancy over this
reference to the Quran is a THOUSAND years! (Alexander the great - 4th Century
B.C. Muhammad (and the Quran) - 6th to 7th Century A.D.)

Hinduism

We must hope that Hindu scholars will
eventually investigate and report if necessary on the accuracy of SB's frequent references
to Hindu scriptures and legends. (The scholar and devotee Ra. Ganapati pointed out half a
dozen in his book Baba. Satya Sai, Part II, as I reported previously at the
beginning of Chapter 5 of 'SSBGOG'.)